Brabus has fitted lightbars to the Mercedes GLB

The big news here is not that Brabus has given the Mercedes GLB a little bit of extra power and some new wheels. Oh no. The real news is that Brabus has fitted the Mercedes GLB with LIGHTBARS. 

Lightbars, of course, are completely excellent things that make anything cooler. But pour quoi would Brabus fit them to Merc’s boxy seven-seat SUV? Well, your guess is as good as ours, but we’re not complaining.

The German tuner says its styling updates are characterised by ‘sporty elegance’ and that the lightbars (or Power Beams as Brabus calls them) provide extra safety when driving at night using full beam. 

They do look mega too, don’t they? We’re not quite as sure about the rest of the kit of course – that spoiler looks a little out of place and the front bumper is very busy. We also must remind ourselves that it’s a Brabus-tuned GLB so it’s inherently pointless.

There is an engine upgrade - the GLB 250’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine (which we don’t get in the UK) jumps from 221bhp and 258lb ft of torque to 267bhp and 317lb ft courtesy of an ECU remap. 

There are also suspension upgrades for Mercedes’ biggest ‘compact’ car. Four-wheel drive equipped 4MATIC versions get the option of lowering springs that drop the GLB by 30mm, or more off-road ready suspension that lifts the car by 35mm from standard. 

Other than that though, the upgrades are all skin-deep. Anyone else slightly disappointed Brabus didn’t go all out with a jacked-up, chunky-tyred, lightbar-equipped AMG GLB 35? Shame…